Leo Rennert, former Washington bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers, 87

Leo Rennert, former Washington bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers and a 52-year member of the National Press Club, died April 4 in Bethesda, Md. He was 87. His daughter Sharon said he died of leukemia and had suffered from dementia for several years.

Rennert worked for McClatchy during the 1970s and '80s, covering Washington focused on issues most relevant to his readers, from tracking their congressional delegations to probing federal departments and agencies.

Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., said Rennert "built a reputation as a straight-shooting newspaper reporter with integrity. Our region and our news industry mourn the loss of a tough, smart, fair and honest journalist."

Rennert learned early in life the evil and good in human nature. Born in Vienna, Austria, his family fled to Belgium in the late 1930s to escape growing Nazi anti-Semitism. His father, Elias Rennert, was captured and died in the Auschwitz concentration camp but Leo, his mother and younger brother stayed hidden using assumed names and protected by locals in the village of Burdinne.

The Rennerts joined relatives in New York in 1947 and later in Los Angeles, where Leo attended high school and earned degrees in French, political science and journalism at UCLA. After serving in the Army, he joined the Sacramento Bee in 1956 where he began with local assignments and eventually covered the civil rights movement and early space program. He moved to Washington in 1967 to cover the capital from the local angle, often filing multiple stories per day.

"He very much appreciated his membership in the Club," said his daughter Sharon. "He would come home and talk about the interesting people who spoke at luncheons. Sometimes I would tag along, and that was exciting."

She said her father liked taking out-of-town visitors to the Club restaurant as much as showing them the Capitol and White House. "That was a must stop on the tour."

Rennert was a strong proponent for regional coverage, a battle that became increasingly difficult as newspapers trimmed staff as revenues declined with digital competition for advertising.

"In some ways I think it was fortunate that his career coincided with the expansion of newspaper coverage," his daughter said. "It would break his heart to see what has happened to regional reporting."

After his retirement, Rennert became a frequent contributor to "American Thinker," an online outlet featuring coverage of Israel. Until his last contribution in late 2015, Rennert was a sharp critic of what he saw as anti-Israel coverage by major newspapers and broadcasters.

Besides his daughter Sharon, he survived by his wife Patricia and brother Jack.

Rennert displayed his calm demeanor and in-depth knowledge of Washington coverage by regional reporters in a Feb. 1, 1985, appearance on C-SPAN hosted by producer Brian Lamb.